Baba Ramdev, India's favourite problem child | Economic Times

New Delhi: The Ayush ministry's red flagging of Patanjali Ayurved’s drug Coronil on Tuesday is another instance of the company facing government scrutiny.Since 2014, the homegrown FMCG company that promotes “swadeshi” has been in talks with the Centre and various state governments for many projects. However, many of its proposals have either not been taken up immediately or have found their way only after many months. Many of the proposals made by the company’s founder Baba Ramdev were also rejected.In 2015, the Patanjali proposed to revamp the state-run Khadi and Village Industries Commission by wanting to assume its “complete responsibility of research, marketing, quality control and management”. Patanjali officials had held at least three rounds of negotiations with the ministry of MSMEs. However, the then MSME minister Kalraj Mishra had rejected the proposal citing Khadi had an identity of its own that should not be tampered with.After Yogi Adityanath became the UP CM in 2017, Patanjali lobbied to get part of the contract of the midday meals by giving panjiri (a mixture of sugar, ghee and wheat), fruits and milk to over 10 crore children. This proposal was rejected by the state government.Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna had also proposed to adopt the ghats of Haridwar as part of the Namami Gange programme. But their proposal was significantly reduced to their participation, along with several other NGOs, in planting saplings by the riverside. A similar episode occurred when Patanjali's Vedic Broadcasting failed to get clearance to launch three channels offering Vedic content in South India. The application was stuck for three years because of the “loopholes with regard to clearances”. They were finally granted a license last year. Ramdev's much publicised Vedic Education Board also took five years to get moving.Patanjali also had major run-ins with the government when the company's Rs 2,000 crore food park in Noida got stuck due to pending clearances. Officials in the food processing ministry had said the company's application was found wanting of critical details. Adityanath had then assured both Ramdev and Balkrishna of cooperation from his government. The UP government officials had reached out to the Union food ministry to extend the last date for submitting documents. The project was cleared and awarded a subsidy later.Balakrishna, the chief executive officer of Patanjali, admitted that some of the company's experiences with the government officials have not been good. "But it is a system with its set of procedures and people. We are only trying to understand how they work. Some state governments are more difficult to work with."Balakrishna, however, said his experiences working with the tribal ministry and agriculture ministries recently have been “very good”. Ramdev and Balakrishna's teams are working with the Centre to research on herbs used by various tribal communities and training farmers in organic farming. The proposal to help double farmers' income has also been encouraged by the Centre and soil testing has already begun in many districts, said Balakrishna."Much of what we do doesn't involve the government, except when it comes to clearances. We wish people who work in the government are more sensitive to the welfare of people. Like in UP, we really felt by providing good and nutritious food to children, we can ease the lives of many women. Even the Ayush ministry should have reached out to us instead of making its concerns with our research public."Meanwhile, the Centre and the Sangh Parivar have been careful when it comes to endorsing Ramdev's products openly. They have shown their appreciation for his efforts to promote yoga and “swadeshi”. Ramdev was one of the over ten star speakers for Yoga Day. Their discourses were telecast by the Ayush ministry for a week. PM Narendra Modi had inaugurated the company's multi-crore research centre in Uttarakhand in 2017.Even with the RSS, Ramdev continues to be on the panel of advisors for the National Education Policy. "He (Ramdev) is not a formal member but his advice is often taken...As far as Vedic education goes, he has been batting for it for years. The Sangh recognises such efforts but wouldn't want to be seen as openly endorsing any business entity," a senior leader of the RSS told ET.